Microsoft Office

Which Microsoft Office version should you choose?

The three generations we stock – Office 2019, Office 2021 and Office 2024 – contain the same core programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. What changes between them is how modern the interface feels, how long Microsoft keeps issuing security updates, and a handful of features most people never touch.

Office 2024 is the current perpetual release and the right default if you want the longest support window and the newest features – improved data-analysis functions in Excel, better presenter tools in PowerPoint and a refreshed, calmer interface throughout. Office 2021 is the value pick: almost everything the 2024 release offers, at a lower price. Office 2019 is the budget option for older machines and legacy workflows; bear in mind that Microsoft ended support for the 2019 generation in October 2025, so choose it only if you specifically need that version.

Standard or Professional Plus?

This is the decision that matters most, and it is simpler than it looks.

• Standard covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Publisher. For writing, spreadsheets, presentations and email – in other words, for almost every home user and most offices – this is everything you need.
• Professional Plus adds Access (desktop databases) and Skype for Business, plus the licensing features larger IT departments expect. Choose it if you work with Access databases or if your employer has specified it.

If you are unsure, Standard is almost always the correct answer – and it saves you money.

Why a perpetual licence instead of a subscription?

A Microsoft 365 subscription bills you every month for as long as you use it. A perpetual Office licence is bought once and stays yours. Over a typical three-to-five-year usage period the one-off purchase is dramatically cheaper, and it keeps working even if you decide to stop paying attention to it. The trade-off is that you do not receive new feature releases – but the features that matter in day-to-day work have been stable for years.

Installing and activating your Office licence

Your email contains three things: the product key, a direct download link for the official Microsoft installer, and step-by-step instructions. Download the installer, run it, and enter the key when prompted. The whole process usually takes ten to fifteen minutes, most of which is the download. If anything goes wrong, contact us – we will either solve it with you or replace the key.